What's under the Lincoln Memorial?

March 25, 2021 11:05 AM

122 concrete pillars in a 43,800 square foot and three stories tall cavern. 360 video tour. Another tour. Forgotten and undisturbed for almost 60 years, the cavern was rediscovered in 1975. Sealed to the public in 1989, there are now plans to reopen the undercroft in 2022 for the centenary celebration.
posted by adept256 (28 comments total)

The Lincoln Memorial is all fine, but what about the basement of the Alamo?
posted by greatgefilte at 11:24 AM on March 25, 2021 [18 favorites]

there are now plans to reopen the undercroft in 2022 for the centenary celebration.

Also in time for National Treasure 3: The Axe of Destiny
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:58 AM on March 25, 2021 [7 favorites]

I remember going when I was younger...the most remarkable thing was that it even existed. Once you enter...there's not much to it.
posted by grateful at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2021

Probably way less interesting than the stairway of the Washington Monument, also sealed from the public for decades.
posted by Rash at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2021 [7 favorites]

My parents made me walk those stairs too!
posted by grateful at 12:08 PM on March 25, 2021

Click and drag to rotate the 360. If you use the youtube app on your phone, you can move your phone around for a better look. I suppose it works in VR too.
posted by adept256 at 12:10 PM on March 25, 2021

Have they found Lincoln's gold yet?

This seems like a less arbitrary place to keep it.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:19 PM on March 25, 2021

I hope they secure the True Sons base first. All those civilians running around won't be real safe around Major Keates.
posted by bowmaniac at 12:27 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Well, this answers the question prompted by The Smithsonian being The Nation's Attic.
posted by zamboni at 12:30 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

The "rediscovery" story is, as far as I have been able to determine, an urban myth - both the Post and the now-defunct Star are often cited as sources, but I've never been able to find an article in either detailing it.

Given that the pilings down there are sunk into the fill used to make the land that the Memorial is sitting on, and are holding the main structure up, I really doubt the Park Service would have just "forgotten" about this feature of the building for 50 odd years.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:34 PM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]

Does it flood? Does it have a sump pump? Could it be used for temporary flood management like the giant built caverns in Tokyo?
posted by clew at 12:48 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

And now, for the $64,000 question:
Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?
posted by bartleby at 1:02 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I remember going when I was younger...the most remarkable thing was that it even existed. Once you enter...there's not much to it.

Spoken like someone who wants to keep the supernatural Gifts of the Railsplitter to themselves.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:21 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

Nah, sounds like someone who's also been thrilled to visit other cities' subterranean delights, like Seattle Underground and the Portland Shanghai tunnels. A trip to the basement - wow.
posted by Rash at 1:25 PM on March 25, 2021

I mean that's interesting and all, but there's a lot more underneath the National Archives. If you can get past the killbots, anyhow.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:31 PM on March 25, 2021 [6 favorites]

Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein has invested a staggering $18.5 billion into a project to modernize the Lincoln Memorial, including the undercroft space, allowing more Americans to glimpse that forgotten part of history.

I am reminded of last week's $80 million glass mansion.
posted by aniola at 2:33 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

"President Lincoln’s only surviving son was a special guest at the May 30, 1922 dedication ceremony for the Lincoln Memorial, receiving an ovation when he reached his seat. Robert Todd Lincoln did not deliver remarks but listened with great interest as other speakers paid tribute to his father. Robert took great interest in the memorial as it emerged within Potomac Park and frequently requested that his driver pass the site so that he could observe the progress; he even secured permission once to visit the site in the midst of ongoing construction."
posted by clavdivs at 2:36 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

So what did they do with all the vampire skulls?
posted by bartleby at 3:36 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Huh, didn't know they had closed it. I toured part of it on some... school trip probably? back in the day.

I also have my doubts that it was ever actually forgotten, rather than "these construction workers didn't know about it."
posted by tavella at 4:06 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I noticed the 18.5 billion thing too but apparently it is “only” actually 18.5 million
posted by ghharr at 4:31 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Well that won't even buy you a quarter of a perplexing office-park mansion.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 5:15 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you can get past the killbots, anyhow.

I've heard rumors of a crack team of Naruto runners who would probably be up for this.
posted by cmfletcher at 5:40 AM on March 26, 2021

I feel like this thread is a neural network trying to teach itself about Washington D.C.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:24 AM on March 26, 2021

This is my firm's project! I had a chance to survey the undercroft during the initial documentation and planning stages, but due to security concerns was unable to take photos or share any information on social media...which is very difficult for a historian in one of the most important historic buildings in the country! The construction story is fascinating - because it is constructed essentially on fill, the builders used massive blocks to drive hollow steel tubes down to bedrock, and then filled them with concrete - essentially skyscraper construction techniques that were then still relatively new. Then they had to create the 50-foot high concrete columns in order to further elevate the Memorial above the ground plane. The terrace, steps, and building are also structurally separate to allow for differential movement. The Library of Congress has a great series of construction photos. Mr. Lincoln is also double the size originally proposed.

Yeah, the story about its "rediscovery" is a total myth. My research uncovered multiple instances of people claiming to have "rediscovered" the undercroft over the years. NPS has always known it was there.

It's a pretty neat space - feels a bit like a Byzantine cathedral. The NPS conducted some archaeological reconnaissance in the 1980s and and found pencil drawings on the columns (images in one of the linked articles), and artifacts such as shoes, construction tools, and bottles.

I also had the chance to go up on the roof which was another interesting experience.
posted by Preserver at 8:39 AM on March 26, 2021 [31 favorites]

Flagged for fantastic! I didn't expect the fellow working on it to show up.
posted by adept256 at 10:52 AM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is right in my wheelhouse because I'm almost always drawn more to a building's basement, attic, disused staircases, and so on. Spent an inordinate amount of time in college trying to sneak into steam tunnels, for example.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:02 PM on March 26, 2021

Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?

As a reminder, the correct answer is no one. Bodies are not buried in tombs, they are entombed there.
posted by SPrintF at 2:15 PM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

As fate would have it, Robert Todd Lincoln was present or nearby when three presidential assassinations occurred [Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley]. Details in his Wikipedia bio > Presence at assassinations.

Robert did not attend the play at Ford’s Theater and did not witness the assassination. If he had been in his usual seat (in his family’s box), the Assassin Would Have Failed Had Son Been at Theater with Abraham Lincoln — Robert Lincoln, for First Time, Tells How He Remained Home from Ford's Theater the Night the President Was Shot; Had He Been There, Booth Could Not Have Gained Access., Archive.org.^[54]

The next section of the RTL WP bio, Robert Lincoln and Edwin Booth, reveals another odd turn of history prior to the assassination:

Robert Lincoln was once saved from possible serious injury or death by Edwin Booth, whose brother, John Wilkes Booth, was the assassin of Robert's father. The incident took place on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey. The exact date of the incident is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in late 1863 or early 1864, before John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Lincoln (April 14, 1865)....

More details in the bio.
posted by cenoxo at 7:14 PM on March 27, 2021